Internet Watch

by Kate
Sullivan

Updated LTPP Products Online

Why do some pavements perform better than others? To
find out, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) launched the Long-Term
Pavement Performance (LTPP) program, building on research started in the 1980s.
More than 25 years later, the program continues to investigate various designs,
pavement structures, materials, environments, and maintenance practices -- with
the objective of increasing pavement life. FHWA researchers created an
information management system to house the collected data, and today this
relational database contains more than 600 tables.

Accessing these data, research findings, and related products
just got easier. FHWA recently unveiled the improved "LTPP Products Online,"
with a fully updated version of LTPP DataPave Online. The Web site enables
users to view and extract data in a faster, easier-to-navigate environment.

"LTPP Products Online 2.0 with DataPave Online is a huge
improvement over the original version," says Antonio Nieves Torres, a concrete
pavement engineer with FHWA's Office of Infrastructure. "It is much more user
friendly. More data are displayed, and the selection process for
downloading data is much more comprehensive than before."

Expanded Data, Enhanced Navigation

DataPave Online, the original site's flagship and the
primary means of accessing raw data, is completely updated and features an
intuitive user interface for simpler navigation and easy extraction of data.
One new feature is the integration of images of pavement distress from LTPP
test sites, previously available only by special request. The LTPP program also
updated the navigation map on the Web site using the latest GoogleTM mapping
capabilities including aerial and zoom views to make it easier for users to
find and examine test sites.

The data summary sheet was expanded to provide a more
detailed and useful overview of the LTPP test sites selected by the user. The
site integrates the Distress Viewer and Analyzer application -- originally a
stand-alone application that displayed images, videos, and other data from
pavement distress surveys of LTPP test sites.

A new function of DataPave Online is "Export by Topic," which
enables users to explore the LTPP data by topic, selecting multiple data
elements and viewing the number of available records before downloading.
Researchers can refine an export selection, such as traffic data, by filtering
by increasingly specific subtopics like traffic counts, then heavy trucks per
day.

The updated LTPP Reference Library is now completely
searchable using keywords. The system upgrade also integrates the LTPP data
directly with the library. When a user selects data elements to export, the
site generates a list of related materials from the library, such as books,
articles, and product briefs.

The site also boasts
improved performance with bandwidth doubled from 3 to 6 megabits per second,
providing faster access times for videos, images, and maps.

"These Web site enhancements are especially valuable to the
research community," says Shelley Stoffels, associate professor of civil
engineering and director of the Larson Institute Transportation Infrastructure
Program at Penn State University. "The improvements in search, retrieval, and
display all facilitate the research process and provide users with a much
improved tool. They also serve to make the data much more accessible to
students at all levels, helping to educate a future generation of highway
engineers."

InfoPave: The Next-Generation
LTPP Interface

To further improve the user experience and ease of
access to LTPP data, and to stay at the forefront of technology advancements,
the LTPP team recently awarded a contract to develop the next-generation Web
interface: LTPP InfoPave. This program will expand and replace LTPP Products
Online. When launched, InfoPave will be the focal point of the LTPP program,
providing user-friendly Web access to the LTPP data on demand, with tools to
maximize utilization and user understanding. FHWA expects to release InfoPave
to the public in January 2014 at the Transportation Research Board's annual
meeting.